Jury Duty

Why your participation matters

Whether or not you are selected to serve on a jury, your participation is critical to one of the most fundamental principles of our free society - the right to a jury trial. Your participation as a juror is essential to our common law system of justice. Our system affords all persons going to trial the opportunity to have the facts of their cases determined by a jury of their peers. The Judges of the Ninth Judicial Circuit thank you in advance for your service. We hope you find your jury service to be an interesting and positive experience.

If you have recently received a summons, please select the County below where you are to report. In order to complete your Juror Questionnaire online, you will need to enter your Candidate Id number found in red on your Jury Summons.

Term of Service

When summoned for jury service, you will appear for the length of one trial or one day. The majority of jurors complete their service in one day. If selected to serve on a trial, the length of service is generally three days. We reserve the right to have jurors "on call"

Failure to Appear

If you fail to appear as a Juror, a letter will be mailed to you directing you to contact the Jury Services Department to reschedule your jury service date within 72 hours of receipt of the letter. In Orange County you may contact the Jury Services Department via email at Jury@ocnjcc.org. Please include your name, Candidate ID, and a date within the next four weeks when you will be available to serve, If you prefer to contact the Jury Services Department via phone, please call (407) 836-2206 between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. In Osceola County you may contact the Jury Services Department via email at osceolajury@ocnjcc.org or if you prefer to contact the Jury Services Department via phone, please call (407) 742-2423 between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Please note Jurors do not report on Fridays. Pursuant to section 40.23 of the Florida Statutes, any person who is duly summoned to attend as a Juror in any court and who fails to attend without any sufficient excuse shall pay a fine not to exceed $100.00. In addition to the fine, you may also face contempt proceedings which could result in the imposition of community service or other sanctions, including jail time.

Limited English Speakers (LES)

If you receive a summons to report for jury service and you are a limited English speaker, you will still need to report to the courthouse as instructed by your jury summons. Jury staff does not have the authority to excuse you from your jury service. If you come accompanied by a family member on your reporting date, that person may remain with you in the jury room while you are waiting to be placed on a panel. If you are placed on a panel and sent to a courtroom, your family member will not be permitted to go with you. In the courtroom, the judge will inquire whether any jurors have issues understanding the English language and the judge will determine whether you can be excused from your jury service. If you are summoned in the future and a judge has previously excused you from jury service due to limited English understanding, you will still need to report for jury service. A judge must make a determination each time a juror is summoned whether they can be excused based on language issues.

Compensation

You will be compensated $15.00 per day for the first three days of service if you are unemployed or your employer does not pay you your regular wage. If your employer pays you your regular wage, you will not be compensated for the first three days of service. On the fourth day and beyond, all jurors receive $30.00 per day compensation. Sorry, but there is no reimbursement for mileage.

Employer Information

In Orange & Osceola Counties, the term of jury service is one day or the length of one trial. Jurors are expected to report for service on their assigned date.

If an individual is a member or an alternate member of a jury panel, his or her term of service will end when the trial reaches a verdict or the deliberation stage is concluded. If an individual is not selected for a case or in voir dire proceedings by the end of the day then his/her service will have been concluded. A form certifying the number of days a juror performed jury service will be furnished to the juror upon request. State law does not require employers to compensate employees who are absent because of jury service. Many employers do, however, have jury-leave policies that provide compensation to employees for the time they are needed at court for jury service. It is important to note that employers may not take any punitive action against an employee while they are summoned to serve as a juror.

Security

Please note, the following items will be prohibited from coming into the courthouse:

Knives of any type/size

Alcohol

Bug bombs or spray

Clay

Handcuff key

Knitting needles

Lighters

Mace

Metal forks

Metal nail files

Metal picks

Paints

Pepper spray

Rat tail combs

Sharp point scissors

Sling shot

Stun gun

Tear gas

Tools & tape measures

Razors or box cutters

Glass bottles (over 4 oz)

Throwing stars

Drugs

Chinese sticks (hairsticks)

Medallions over 2"

Firearms

Kubaton sticks of any kind

Metal knuckles

Oversized belt buckles

Chemical gas

Chains over 12"

Body spray (over 4 oz)

Aerosol cans

Billie club

Tweezers

Explosives

Ammunition

Any and all other destructive devices and additional items not listed, considered dangerous by the security officials may be confiscated.